The Fear
by CarlaPeterLove
Summary: Carla & Nick have a spooky Halloween night in...


**_I was going to post this on actual Halloween but I can barley get Don't Let Go updated on a Saturday these days so I thought as it's done, I'll post it tonight..._**

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Halloween had come to Weatherfield and whilst various residents were getting ready for a Halloween party, some trick or treating or just a simple drink in the pub, Carla and Nick were doing the exact opposite.

They had been invited down the pub by Michelle and also to a party at one of Nick's friend's house but in the end they decided to stay in together and have a "cosy" night in instead.

Carla had never been much into Halloween before, in fact she thought it was a pretty stupid tradition but somehow Nick always had a way of making her excited for things that she had never been excited for before.

After they had planned their spooky night in, she had found herself counting down the days and miraculously enough she found herself dressing up too... well if you call putting on some animal ears dressing up that is.

She turned up at Nick's place at seven thirty pm. She was kitted out in her normal dark attire which consisted of a tight pair of black jeans and a black vest but what wasn't normal about her outfit was that she had placed a pair of black and white bunny ears on her head just for a bit of fun and to show Nick that she was getting into the Halloween spirit. She knocked on Nick's door in the same way that she always did and it wasn't even a second before it opened before her.

"Happy Halloween Nicky T." Carla grinned, "And there was me hoping that you'd be stood ere in a tutu." She added in mock disappointment. Nick was stood in a white shirt and grey trousers because he had just got in from work and had taken off his suit jacket and tie. He was grinning at the bunny ears on Carla's head as he stood in his doorway.

"Well I wasn't aware we were dressing up... Not that I'm complaining." he said, looking Carla up and down, the way he always did whenever he hadn't seen her for a while… although a while was actually only a few hours ago because Carla and Nick had both seen each other down the bistro at lunchtime. "Is it possible that you look ridiculously cute... yet mind-blowingly sexy… at the same time?" Nick asked as Carla stood before him with her hands on her hips. She just shrugged at him coyly and then realised that she was still stood outside of his flat.

"Are you gonna let me in then or...?"

"Sorry…" Nick said, raising a hand to his head and shaking it, before he moved aside and let Carla into his flat. He couldn't help but watch her as she walked past him and then he had to be reminded to close the door by Carla because he had gotten so caught up her in appearance that it seemed his brain wasn't functioning properly. "So… did you have those bunny ears just knocking about your flat or did you buy them especially for tonight?"

"Hmmmm you'll never know." Carla smirked as she wrapped her arms around Nick's neck and as his went around her waist.

"Hi…" Nick breathed, kissing Carla on the lips and pulling her close, smelling the perfume he had bought for her a few weeks ago and loving it.

He still couldn't believe how much he loved this woman. He couldn't believe how close they had become when this time last year she wasn't anywhere near his radar.

"Hi…" Carla beamed back at him, gazing into his eyes for a moment, he gazed back and this was an action that they would more often that not, get lost in… the action of just looking at each other, almost as if they were in awe that after so many months of hiding their feelings, they were proper couple who were madly in love.

Carla gave Nick another kiss on the lips, before glancing over at the pumpkins and the bowl that Nick had ready and waiting on his coffee table for them. He followed her reluctant gaze and moved, so that he was now behind Carla instead of in front.

"Come on… It'll be fun." Nick whispered, with his hands on her hips, guiding her over to his coffee table.

"What is fun about scooping out a pumpkin and shoving a candle inside it?" Carla giggled but she let Nick sit her down and hand her a small carving knife.

"It's a Halloween tradition and since we've both never done it before, I thought it would be fun." he said, getting down on his knees next to Carla and picking up his own carving knife.

"Uh I can think of so many better things that you n me could be doing right now…" Carla began, "Especially with me being on me knees…" She added with a suggestive smirk.

"Oh there will be plenty of time for that don't you worry." Nick grinned as he leant forward and started cutting the top off his pumpkin.

It took them almost an hour but in the end Nick and Carla had both successfully produced a pretty good pumpkin each. It was rather messy work and Carla's was a bit of a disaster at first. She had decided that she was giving up halfway through because pumpkin kept getting stuck underneath her nails but with some encouragement from Nick she continued.

When they were done, Nick went into the kitchen and came back with two tea lights, which he then put inside the pumpkins and carefully lit, before getting up and going over to his lights. As he turned them off he saw Carla, sat back on the floor holding up her phone and taking a photo of their handy work.

"I gotta admit… They look pretty impressive." She said as it suddenly became dark in the room.

"Mmmm so do you." Nick said as he walked over to Carla as she stood up. He pulled her close to him again and kissed her by candle light.

"So… Which movie did ya pick then?" Carla asked in between kisses, as Nick cuddled her close. The idea was for them to both choose a film each and then they would watch them together. Nick let go of Carla and walked over to his television where he had a DVD box placed next to it. She glanced at it as he brought it over to her and frowned,

"Hocus Pocus?" She exclaimed. "Really?"

"Hey… Don't be like that, it's a classic." Nick said, smirking at Carla's reaction to his secret favourite Halloween movie.

"It's a kids movie Nicky." Carla replied but Nick didn't seem to mind too much. He knew she was only messing with him and that her mocking tone was laced with pure love.

"Errr no It's a family movie actually… I mean me, David n Sarah used to love watching this." Nick said, taking the DVD out of the box and going to put it in his television. "What?" He laughed as he watched Carla's amused expression continue.

"Well I'm just trying to imagine you n your crazy siblings sat watching a movie together… I can't seem to picture the lot of you getting through a whole movie without some sort of bickering going on." Carla said, sitting down on the sofa and waiting for Nick to come and join her.

"Well not with this movie on... we loved it and it's probably the only one we could ever agree on." He said before kissing Carla again. She giggled as he reached over the side of his sofa and pulled a fleece blanket over them. "It holds a lot of memories for me so stop making fun of it." Nick then added, as he turned back to Carla and lightly brushed his nose against hers.

"I'm sorry… I just assumed you'd be picking something slightly scarier… I mean it is Halloween after all." Carla said, as Nick put his arm around her.

"Why? What did you pick?" he asked, looking rather fearful now.

"You'll find out soon enough." Carla said as she took of her bunny ears off. Nick frowned at her but he knew that she couldn't quite get comfortable with them on, so he didn't say anything about it, besides he was more worried about what movie she had picked for them to watch.

"This movie…" Nick asked, in a way that made Carla sit up again and look at him sideways.

"What?" She asked, amused because he genuinely looked scared now.

"Nothing…" Nick grinned sheepishly, "I'm just… wondering how scary it's going to be?" He spoke as casually as he could but he knew he wasn't fooling anyone as he swallowed and pressed play on the DVD remote.

"Don't worry… I'll be ere to hold your hand darlin." Carla grinned, laying her head on his chest and starting to wonder if Nick was maybe a bit of a baby when it came to watching scary movies.

It turned out he was.

He was fine during Hocus Pocus of course because he'd seen it a million times and it wasn't all that frightening but when Carla had got out the film she had picked, his face literally dropped.

"Paranormal Activity? Really?" He asked from his kitchen, as he got a bottle of wine out of his fridge. He had put the light back on because the glow from their pumpkins wasn't enough for him to see what he was doing.

"Nicholas Tilsley are you standing there n telling me that you are a big fat scardy cat?" Carla asked as she put the DVD in his television.

"No… I've just heard a bit about it that's all…" Nick said, pouring a large glass of wine for him and Carla. "You can tell me when all the scary parts are coming though right?" he asked hoping that Carla would reassure him.

"Well I could… if I'd seen it that is… I borrowed it off Aidan." Carla grinned, joining Nick in the kitchen and picking up the huge Christmas tin of chocolates that Nick had still sealed on his kitchen counter.

"Hey… I got those for Mum in Fresco's…" Nick began, "I was going to give her them..." but Carla just grinned at him and took them back to the sofa. "I guess I'll get her another tin shall I?" He chuckled as Carla sat down on it and opened it. She nodded at him as she pulled out one of the chocolates and as she unwrapped it, she called,

"Get a move on Tisley we've got a movie to watch… n make sure you turn out that light."

The film had only just started when Nick paused it and said,

"Hold on… is this based on real life?"

"I doubt it…" Carla scoffed, shaking her head at him and taking the remote off him so he couldn't keep pausing it. Nick narrowed his eyes as he read the words on the screen, which thanked the families of the two people in the film and made it seem as if it was going to be about a true story. "Don't be a baby Nicky…" Carla said, before pressing play on the remote. "Besides… it's fun when it's scary… it means we can't don't need to ave a proper excuse to wrap our arms around each other excessively."

It wasn't long before Carla had regretted telling Nick to turn out the light after all.

The movie had them both, cowering underneath the blanket at times, although it was definitely Nick who was underneath it the most.

He jumped at the slightest scary moment in the film and was practically shaking during some parts of it, which Carla found irresistibly cute.

As the films credits ran, Nick quickly got up and said he was going to the toilet as he had polished off a lot of the wine to steady his nerves.

He came out of the bathroom to find an empty living room, it was almost pitch black now the television was off, the only light was coming from the pumpkins that sat on the coffee table, although by now the candle wax had almost all melted and they were only giving out a very dim light.

"Carla…" Nick called into the darkness but there was no answer. "Carla where are you?" He asked because he truly couldn't see her. He waited a moment before clearing his throat and repeating his question. "Carla… where are you?... Carla this isn't funny... y'know I'm already on edge as it is."

"BOO!" She suddenly cried, sneaking up on him and squeezing his waist from behind.

"Ahhhhh!" Nick cried loudly, almost jumping right out of his skin because Carla had scared him so much. She cackled away behind him, in fits of laughter at how he had just reacted. "Oh you are so not funny." He said, grabbing hold Carla playfully and pulling her over to the sofa, the tin of chocolates toppled onto the floor and chocolates spilled all over the place as Carla continued to laugh at him. "Stop laughing…" he begged but he couldn't help but laugh too.

Carla's laugh was ridiculously infectious and too see her full of so much happiness made Nick feel such a warm rush of love, that he didn't care if she laughed at him for the rest of his life, just as long as he could be there to hear it.

In the end he placed a hungry kiss on Carla's lips and it wasn't long before their clothes were on the floor next to the almost empty tin of chocolates.

Half an hour later and Carla was lying with her head rested on Nick's naked torso, he was still trying to catch his breath when he thought he heard her stifle in another laugh.

"You're not still laughing are ya?" He asked, kissing her softly on the forehead because even when she was mocking him, she was the most loveable woman in the whole world.

"I'm sorry… I can't help it." Carla said, sitting up and looking at Nick. "That noise that came out of your mouth when I scared you… Nick I've honestly never heard anything like it in me life."

"Yeah well I was scared… what did ya expect?" Nick asked,

"What were ya scared of?" Carla asked, bending over the side of sofa and rifling through the chocolates until she found a pink one.

"Just… stuff." Nick said shrugging and feeling foolish. "I mean how did I know that you weren't about to suddenly turn into a demon and eat me."

"Well the night is still young…" Carla said, stuffing a chocolate into her mouth and grinning as the candle had one last flicker before it ran out, leaving them both in complete darkness. Other than the sound of Carla's chewing it was silent for a while.

It was silent until Nick said,

"Can we… maybe light some more candles or something?" Carla stifled in another laugh as she reached over onto the coffee table and picked up her Iphone, She turned the torch on to give them some light and then grinned at Nick,

"Are you being serious?" She asked not sure if he was just messing around or not, "Y'know you're quite safe with me?"

"I know…" He said, kissing her roughly on the lips, still slightly out of breath from the sex they had just had on his sofa. Carla kissed him back and then picked up his shirt from the floor.

"I can't believe I never knew how much of a wuss you are?" She said putting on his shirt before quickly running over to his kitchen and pulling some more tea lights out of a draw.

"Hey… I wasn't the only one who was scared, I know I definitely heard a few screams come out of your mouth during that film." Nick said as Carla came back and placed some candles on his coffee table. She lit the candles and then replaced the ones that were inside thier pumpkins. When she was done she got back onto the sofa with another chocolate in hand and as she unwrapped it she asked,

"So besides me turning into a demon and eating you… what else are you afraid of then?" Nick laughed and didn't answer Carla at first. "Ello… earth to Nicholas… come on spill... what are your fears?"

"Well I fear that you are going to eat all the Strawberry Roses for a start and you know they are my favourite." He said, nudging her and reaching down for his own chocolate. She laughed and picked one up for him, when she had unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth she said,

"There you are…"

"Thanks." Nick said, chewing the chocolate as Carla then asked again,

"Go on then Tilsley, spill, what are you afraid of?"

"Okay…" Nick began, after thinking about it for a moment. "I know it sounds cliché but Rats… and mice actually... in fact anything that is smaller than a cat."

"Really?" Carla asked with an eyebrow raised..

"Yeah… David had a pet mouse one once, when ever I used to go round to me Mum's he used to tease me with it... I used to be petrified that it was going to come after me… I even had a dream about it once." Carla laughed and kissed Nick on his bare chest, loving this new side that she was seeing to him.

To Carla, Nick had always seemed like he was eight feet tall and he had always been the one to protect her and make her feel safe, so it was refreshing for her to see him being the vulnerable one for once.

"So… go on then… your turn, what are you afraid of?" Nick asked.

"Erm… nothing." Carla bragged.

"Oh come on… everyone is afraid of something Carla." Nick said watching her, "Although I know that you are definitely not afraid of heights given those shoes you totter around Underworld in."

"Alright…" Carla caved, "I'm afraid… that something will happen to the woman that does my eyebrows n that I'll have to go to someone else which won't be good because I don't trust anyone else to do them but her."

"Is that it?" Nick chuckled, not believing Carla for a second when she said she had no fears.

"No…" Carla giggled, "I'm... also afraid that Zara won't have that gorgeous pair of shoes I saw online, in my size when I go there tomorrow."

"Come on... you seriously can't be telling me that you don't ave any irrational fears?" Nick asked in awe.

"Yeah…" Carla said although something about her _yeah_ made Nick think that she was lying. "Give me another one of yours… but this time make it something real, not an irrational one like your baby brother's pet… something that keeps you awake at night."

"What you mean other than you?" Nick joked poking Carla in the side.

"Yeah…" Carla grinned suggestively, leaning forward and kissing him again.

"Okay…" Nick sighed anxiously, "I'm scared… that… that one day my brain injury will… change me." he trailed off as he spoke, as if he felt embarrassed at what he was saying.

"What d'ya mean?" Carla asked.

"Well... that it'll seriously start to affect me, that it'll somehow get worse and that I'll be powerless to stop it… Carla... I really don't want to wake up one morning and not be me… I'm actually petrified about it to be honest." Carla swallowed and nodded, shocked to hear this about Nick because he never talked about his brain injury unless it was to use it cheekily to get out of something. "I sound ridiculous… I know."

"No no you don't." Carla promised, watching him with such affection and love, that a tear ran down her cheek.

"It's been a big fear of mine since the crash to be honest… One that I've never told anyone about before."

"Not even Leanne?" Carla asked, the tone of surprise in her voice evident.

"Not even Leanne." Nick replied, taking a hand and wiping Carla's wet cheek, he smiled at her in awe because he couldn't understand why she was the one crying here.

Then she spoke.

"D'ya want to know what I'm scared of? What I'm really... really scared of?" she asked, her voice almost breaking this time.

"Yes…" Nick nodded at her, he could tell she wasn't messing around any more. He could tell that she was about to reveal a proper fear of hers and he wondered what she might say.

He thought about all the horrible things that she had been through during her life and wondered if maybe she would mention something to do with one of them.

What she did say, shocked him… what she did say was something that he really wasn't expecting.

"I'm… I'm afraid of you…"

"Me?" Nick exclaimed but softly as not to startle Carla in anyway. He might have wondered if she was joking but he could still tell by her tone of voice that she wasn't. She truly sounded frightened and vulnerable as she spoke.

"Yeah…" She replied, with tears in her green eyes as she continued. She wasn't afraid to talk about these kind of things with Nick, especially after he had just revealed his biggest fear to her. "I'm afraid of the things you do to me… y'know the way you make me feel... I'm... afraid of how much you make me love you and it really does keep me up at night sometimes… Sometimes I lie there and I watch you sleep... I get afraid that one day you might realise how much of a mess I am... and that you might leave me…"

"Carla…" Nick began but he couldn't finish because her words had formed a lump in his throat, the candlelight flicked back and forth as she lay on top of his body with her biggest fears exposed.

"So… there you ave it… that's my biggest fear…" Carla spoke again, "It's you... you scare the shit out of me Nicky Tilsley." Her head went down slightly, as if she was ashamed of what she had just admitted to her boyfriend of two months.

Nick leant forward and lifted Carla's chin up with two fingers so he could place a kiss on her lips.

A kiss that he hoped would show her everything that she needed to know and that he hoped would show her that would never ever leave her but just in case she didn't get it the message he made sure he said,

"Carla… you really don't need to be afraid… you are not a mess. You are the most amazing person I have ever met and I will never ever ever leave you."

"You promise?" Carla sniffed, more tears pouring down her cheeks.

"I promise." Nick said.

She didn't have to say else and neither did he.

They both knew that he was telling the truth and that he really wouldn't leave her, never... not for any reason on this earth. She rested her head back on his chest and they stayed that way for quite a while...

Until Carla smiled to herself and said,

"Nicholas…."

"Yes…" he said, looking down on the woman that he loved in complete astonishment. She gazed up at him and then flashed him one of her cheekiest grins.

"You do realise that Craig Tinker has a pet rat right?"

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 ** _So... let me know what you think._**

 ** _I hope I managed to do Narla justice because there are some really amazing writers on here who do em, perfectly._**

 ** _Oh and Carter fans... keep your eyes pealed for something new later on in the week._**


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